Wrong again: ALEC can’t pick its own ‘winners’ among states

The 20 states that performed best on the four measures of income actually score much worse on ALEC’s ranking than the 20 states with the lowest income.

ALEC — the American Legislative Exchange Council — persists in peddling “research” that knocks down its own policy ideas.

In its latest edition of Rich States, Poor States, just released, ALEC’s Economic Outlook Ranking scores states on 15 measures reflecting ALEC’s preferred policies towards business. Our Grading the States analysis has exposed the flawed methodology of ALEC’s report, but the authors have not changed it for the 9th edition.

ALEC’s dilemma: The index purports to predict which state economies will perform the best, but in fact there is no relation between a state’s score and how well the economy grows subsequently.

Since the first edition in 2007, it remains the case that ALEC’s “best” states — the ones with the highest rankings — are actually poorer on several measures than the supposedly “worst” states. The graph below has been updated to reflect the 9th edition rankings and the latest income data.

The 20 states that performed best on the four measures of income (the actual rich states) actually score much worse on ALEC’s ranking than the 20 states with the lowest income (the actual poor states).

In its fervent anti-government bias, the report offers a package of policies — for fiscal austerity, suppressing wages and imposing proportionately higher taxes on low-income people — with a promise of economic growth, when it really is a recipe for economic inequality, declining incomes for most citizens, and starving public infrastructure and education systems of needed revenue.

Posted by Peter Fisher, Research Director of the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project and developer of IPP’s Grading the States website, GradingStates.org.

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Author: iowapolicypoints

The Iowa Policy Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides research and analysis to engage Iowans in state policy decisions. We focus on tax and busget issues, the Iowa economy, and energy and environmental policy.
By providing a foundation of fact-based, objective research and engaging the public in an informed discussion of policy alternatives, IPP advances effective, accountable and fair government.
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